LSI
# 11 National standards for emergency response policies and procedures should
be developed and championed.
When
it comes to emergency response and the personnel who operate emergency vehicles
on a daily basis, policies and procedures can and do vary as much as the type
of vehicles and the personnel who operate them.
While
the fire service has always been a champion in assisting with the development
of national standards for firefighter safety, when it comes to emergency response,
we often take unnecessary risks and safe practices sometimes takes a backseat.
Why is this? Is it because we think of ourselves as invincible when we get behind
the wheel of a powerful apparatus designed to transport us and our colleagues
to and from the scene of an emergency? Policies and procedures for emergency
response should for the most part have a list of Do’s and Don’t’s.
Life
Safety Initiative # 11 is based on recommended strategies which will assist in
reducing firefighter injuries and death while responding to an emergency and
operating during a non-emergency situation.
A
complete review of the department’s current standards (see how they compare to
NFPA 1451, Standard for a Fire and Emergency
Service Vehicle Operations Training Program).
Adopting
an official written vehicle risk management plan to include at least the
following components:
- (1)*Risk identification
- (2)*Risk evaluation
- (3)*Risk control techniques
- (4)*Risk management monitoring
Incorporating
provisions of NFPA 1451 into a vehicle operations training program, that
includes all types of vehicles from a broad perspective, risk determination,
design, training, maintenance, record keeping and any variations from standard
operations, and conducting an evaluation into the effectiveness of the program
at least once every 3 years,
The
authority having jurisdiction should establish emergency response procedures to
minimize travel times, optimize response safety, and minimize the chances of
emergency vehicles meeting at traffic intersections, where an automated traffic
control system provides a green light and therefore intersection right-of way to
emergency vehicles. At no time shall driving regulations be less restrictive
than state motor vehicle laws.
An
audit report of the findings should be submitted to the chief and to the
members of the occupational safety and health committee.
The
average firefighter receives some emergency response exposure during basic
training. It is vitally important for departments who provide emergency
response policy and procedures training to their firefighters, to fully
document the training in order to avoid legal pitfalls if their actions should be
challenged in a court of law.
To
begin thinking about the development of national standards for emergency
response policies requires input from the basic firefighter level through the
chief officer level. Gathering support of emergency apparatus manufacturer’s,
the International Association of Firefighters, the International Association of
Fire Chief’s, along with local, state and federal elected officials is also critical
to this mission.
Each
year many firefighters are needlessly injured and others lose their lives from
preventable vehicle accidents which occur during response to and from emergency
incidents. Effectively developing national standards will ensure that the fire
service has a guideline to follow in order to begin changing the culture of the
fire service and reducing both firefighter injuries and fatalities.
Jerry
Doyle
Fire
Chief / EMC
City
of Lockhart Fire Rescue
512-398-2321
